Window Into The Soul
by Chocolate Moo Moo Milk
Summary: Soul plans to be the best. To be the best you need the best Pokemon. A Hoppip isn't really one of those. No matter, Soul's still going to travel all over Johto to be the best. "Team Rocket? Well I'm sure you can take them on Gold." -Based on GSC & HGSS
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - Ok, I know Soul isn't her official name! I don't care! I like Soul more than her other name! Besides, I think it fits more. So I'm calling her Soul. Oh, and YAY! she isn't Kris!**

**Disclamer - I don't own Pokemon. If I did than Soul would be her NPC name and not just an optional name when you play as her.**

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"You got to be kidding me!"

Soul was running through Route 29, one hand holding her hat in place and the other with a bright PokéBall. Only recently she had been in Cherrygrove buying stuff for her journey. Then she got a call from Professor Elm, someone snatched one of his Pokémon; Totodile. Gold was somewhere on Route 30, doing some errand for the professor. He could reach Cherrygrove pretty fast if needed, but Soul had her reasons to find the thief.

_First reason. _The thief had her bike. Soul had left her bike outside of Elm's lab, and planned to get it when she came back from Cherrygrove. Sure, she could have taken her bike when she _went_ to Cherrygrove City. Except Gold ran off without his bike or skateboard, and he was going much farther than she was. If he could run all the way to that Mr. Pokémon's house, she could reach a PokéMart.

_Second reason. _The thief had her Totodile. He wasn't her Totodile yet, but Soul was planning to pick the water type as the one she'd raise for Elm's research paper. She was Elm's assistant, well Gold helped out too. Both of them helped out at the lab often, and were top candidates for raising one of the three Pokémon. The blue-haired boy became fast buddies with the speedy naive fire type. He and Cyndaquil ran off immediately after Elm gave them their instructions. Soul decided to go to Cherrygrove without Totodile so when she did get the water type, they could easily zoom past the city.

_And finally, the third reason. _She knew the thief. Not as in they were good friends, Soul barely met the guy today. She went to Elm's lab and planned to leave her bike against the wall so she could see it easily from the window. That's when she saw him. A young boy around her age crouching near the window. His clothes looked brand new; black-red jacket, blue jeans, and black boots. He had bright red hair (Soul thought it was kinda like that one gym leader from another region) and red eyes that were giving her a rather pissed off look. When his little 'leer attack' didn't scare Soul off he stood up.

"_What are you doing here?"_

_Soul grinned, "Oh well I'm here to..." then it occurred to her that she didn't know the guy. "Wait...I should be asking you that!"_

_The boy shrugged and sat back down, "Nevermind. Just leave me alone."_

That's when Soul messed everything up. She didn't like this guy, so what would she do? Gloat of course.

"_Fine, I need to get my new Pokémon from Elm anyway!" she said, and was happy when the boy looked back at her._

"_Really? What kind?" he asked, his eyes showed more mischief now. Like he was scheming._

_Soul hadn't noticed and happily told him, "Totodile of course! And not just any Totodile, that little fella knows water gun and bite already. I'm planning on teaching him an ice type move too! That way we can take down Falkner and Bugsy easily!"_

_He smirked, "You've been planning this for a while huh?"_

She had. The minute Elm had told her he was going to obtain the three Johto starters a couple of months ago, she began her research. She tried finding all the info she could on each gym leader in the region. From their name, type specialty, location, and even their ages. Soul knew it all and decided that Totodile would be the perfect choice. She was planning on being the best, just like almost every other kid said when they started. That's why Soul decided that to be the best, you needed the best Pokémon. Not a silly grass type that barely learned tackle...

_Ring! Ring!_

"Was that...?" muttered Soul as she came to a stop.

Soon she saw someone coming towards her on a bike. Someone with red hair. She grabbed hold of her PokéBall tightly with both hands. When Soul turned ten a while back, her mom gave her a Pokémon. However, she barely trained it since Elm already promised her she could have Totodile. Now Soul wouldn't have an advantage if she needed to battle the guy. Plus he could have another Pokémon besides Totodile. As the bike got closer and Soul was positive the boy wasn't afraid of her, she really hoped she didn't need to battle.

"So it's you again," he said while coming to a halt in front of Soul. Totodile was sitting on the handle bars, ringing the bike's bell and cackling quietly.

"Yeah, thought you'd miss me," replied Soul as she eyed the water type. _'He's happy? Totodile just got stolen and he's happy?!?'_

"I really have to hand it to the author, this was way too easy."

Soul furrowed her brow, _'What's he talking about? What author?' _She opened her mouth to ask when the boy lifted a hand, telling her to stop.

"Don't ask," he said. "I'm positive you will have no clue what I'm talking about. Let's just battle."

At that Totodile jumped off and did a few punches, he was raring to go. Soul frowned, the little Pokémon didn't even seem to _hate_ the guy. She agreed to the battle though, and pressed the small button on her PokéBall. A burst of white light came out and took shape, soon a Hoppip was on the ground next to Totodile. Hoppip looked up towards its trainer, a gentle smile on it.

"We need to battle now," muttered Soul. It pained her to send the grass-flying type out. Soul would have some advantage in the battle, but that only meant Hoppip wouldn't be KO'ed in five seconds. The only grass type move the cottonweed knew was synthesis.

"Hop!" nodded Hoppip and faced Totodile.

The redhead smirked and said, "You can go first, doesn't matter anyway."

"Okay...Hoppip use tackle!"

Hoppip ran up towards the water type, who took a step to the side and dodged. Hoppip squeaked and kept on going, hitting the redhead's leg and falling down. "Hoppiiiiip! Hop! Ip! Hoppip!" cried Hoppip.

That took seven seconds.

"Oh no, Hoppip it's okay!" tried to reassure Soul. "Try synthesis!"

"Talk about pathetic," muttered the boy, pushing the pink Pokémon out of his way. "I won't battle such a weak Pokémon. Find me when you get a real Pokémon!"

With that said, he picked up Soul's bike and placed Totodile back on his spot. He peddled off towards Cherrygrove City.

Soul looked down at her crying Hoppip. She could think of millions of things to say to it, none would help her problem though. She finally crouched down and rubbed at the small bump on Hoppip's forehead. "Come on little fella, use synthesis and let's go." she whispered. Hoppip slowed down the waterworks to only a sniffle and let his green leaves glow. Soon he began to glow all around and the bruise disappeared. When he was done with synthesis Soul picked Hoppip up and walked towards a patch of grass that was tall enough to hide her feet.

"Okay," she sighed. "We aren't leaving this place until you get stronger, or I catch something stronger. Whichever one works."

"Hopp..." he whispered dejected. Soul nodded and gently threw Hoppip to the ground.

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**So yeah...hope you enjoyed! I have my reasons for giving Soul a Hoppip instead of a Marill like in the screenshots/trailers we've seen. When NPC Soul has Marill, Gold has Chikorita. So she has a Pokemon that's weaker against Gold's, like Lucas/Dawn did. In this story Gold went with Cyndaquil, meaning Soul needed a grass type. Plus Hoppip is pretty weak, it learns tackle at level ten.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - Decided to add Chp. 2 now, I just finished writing 3 and I figured since tomorrow I have school it would be a good idea. Yesterday I learned that NPC Soul seems to always have Marill. I saw Pokemon Sunday and they were playing the game, Gold got Totodile and Soul still has Marill. Oh well, I like my idea better.  
**

**Disclamer - I don't own Pokemon. If I did then my idea of giving the NPC a Pokemon weak against the player would happen in HGSS  
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**"Alright Hoppip, use tackle!"

Hoppip flew towards the tenth Weedle they've battled since reaching Route 30. Weedle threw a multitude of poison stings, Hoppip dodged as many as he could but did get hit by one or three. The poison hit him hard, and Hoppip fell down a foot or so away from the bug. Soul stomped her foot in frustration, if they couldn't take on a few Weedle, how would they defeat Falkner or Bugsy? Falkner would definitely have Pokémon that Hoppip would have trouble on. Even though Bugsy was a bug type gym leader, bugs were often associated with poison moves.

After a while Soul noticed her Hoppip sniffling on the ground. She had told Hoppip when they were back in Route 29 that he needed to be less of a crybaby. Hoppip was a gentle Pokémon not intended to battle, maybe Contests. Soul grabbed a potion and antidote from her bag and walked towards Hoppip. Luckily the grass-flying type wasn't poisoned so she wouldn't need the second medicine.

"At least you're getting faster," mentioned Soul as she opened a bottle of water and handed some to her Pokémon. "If you learn something like poison powder that could help us a lot. We really do need another Pokémon with us though, Gold already has another one along with Cyndaquil."

Soul frowned at the thought of Gold. She had been training in Route 29, battling a Rattata, when he came running towards her. The boy had a look between happy and upset. He told Soul if she saw a redheaded boy with a bike that looked exactly like hers. When Soul only scowled at him Gold got the message._  
_

_"I'll take that as yes then," he said. "Elm called me when I just left Mr. Pokémon's house so I went running to Cherrygrove. That's where I met him, seems like jerk to me. He said he only cared about strong Pokémon and I should leave him alone unless I wanted to lose. I battled him with Cyndaquil of course, and lost. He told me his name though, so I'm gonna tell Professor Elm."_

_Soul, realizing she didn't even know the guy's name, asked, "And his name is...?"_

_"Silver."_

_Soul had giggled a bit (Gold and Silver?), but then noticed Gold had TWO PokéBalls on his belt. "You caught something?" she asked in disbelief._

_Gold smiled, any trace of sadness vanished. "Yeah! I was training a bit with Cyndaquil on the way to Mr. Pokémon's house, just tackling some trees. That's when this little gal fell down." He grabbed the second PokéBall and tossed it into the air. It burst open and an Aipom was standing next to them, a huge grin plastered on her face._

_"Ai! Ai! Aipom!" she yelled and with her tail shook Soul's hand.  
_

_Soul stayed quiet for a sec, Gold wasn't suppose to have two Pokémon! Especially not before her! "Wow," she finally said. "T-That's really cool..."_

_"I know! Oh, and look at what Mr. Pokémon gave me for Elm!" he exclaimed as he opened his gym bag. Out he pulled a container with an egg inside it. "He says it might be a Pokémon Egg! Elm knows a lot about this stuff, even Professor Oak says that!"_

_Her eyes widen and she grabbed a hold of Gold's sleeve, "Professor Oak?!? Kanto's top researcher?!" yelled Soul. "D-Did you meet him or something?"_

_"Yeah, he was visiting Mr. Pokémon. He gave me this computer thingy too..." muttered Gold, probably a little freaked out._

Gold caught an Aipom. Gold met Professor Oak. Gold had a PokéDex.

"Come on Hoppip, I think I saw a Caterpie over there. Use tackle!"

The two continued on like this for some time. Some time after passing the sign reading ROUTE 31, Soul flipped open her red PokéGear. It was fifteen minutes till one. She smiled and said, "We might be able to reach Violet City by today. That means we'll get to train at Sprout Tower tonight!"

Hoppip landed on a tree stump and whimpered. He heard about that place once, when his trainer was researching Violet City. Gastly and Misdreavus showed up at night. Hoppip was especially worried about the poisonous Gastly. The cottonweed shivered at the thought of so many ghosts. Soul noticed and gave her Pokémon a pat on the green leaves. "Chill Hoppip, you don't see ghosts often. They usually hide from the monks at Sprout Tower, we'll probably just battle Bellsprout and Rattata."

"Ratta! Tata!"

Soul looked a bit farther down. A large group of Rattata were staring at her and Hoppip through the bushes, probably looking for some food. She smiled and nudged Hoppip towards them, "You can try using poison powder on them!" she whispered happily.

"Hop," agreed Hoppip and began to spin his leaves. A small puff of purple powder spurted out towards the Rattata. Most of them ran off thanks to their special ability, others dodged the attack, and maybe three only really got hit with the poison.

"Try another poison powder! Make it bigger!" she yelled.

"Rattata!" yelled a few of them as they began to run towards Hoppip at top speeds.

Hoppip stopped his attack, startled at being ganged up on, and was hit with each quick attack. He fell down with a thud and struggled to get on his feet. Soul was about to yell at her Hoppip to use synthesis, when she noticed two of the Rattata had glowing red eyes. "Oh, oh...that looks like Guts." She pulled out a few PokéBalls and threw them towards the Rattata. The two that showed signs of the Guts ability were trapped inside, along with the other one that was poisoned and three others. All of the PokéBalls began to shake. Once- two Rattata got out and ran. Twice-another one left and followed. The last shake- Soul caught three Rattata. Any other Rattata ran off.

She crouched down and picked up all of her PokéBalls. Then she placed the three empty ones in her bag and sat on the soft grass with Hoppip, who was using synthesis. Soul eyed the remaining ones, "That...was easy," she finally said. "They're probably low-level." After placing the PokéBalls on the grass next to her, Soul grabbed her PokéGear. Flipping it open, she decided to open one of the capsules. The bottom screen flashed from a map to a detail analysis of Rattata.

**Rattata **

**Male**

**Lvl. 3**

**Status - PSN  
**

**Item - None**

Skipping the rest of the info on that page. she touched the screen and went to the next set of info. It showed where she caught him, the nature, and the date. She pressed the screen again, this Rattata had the Guts ability. Another press and she saw the Rattata's moveset.

**Normal - Tackle**

**Normal - Leer**

Soul sighed and returned the Rattata. She got out another one. This one was at level two though. The last Rattata was at level five. It knew Guts and quick attack. Soul frowned and opened all of the PokéBalls. She sprayed antidote on all three Rattata and shooed them off. Hoppip gave her a confused look. "Hop?" he asked.

She shrugged, "Eh, Rattata are super common. Plus those three were pretty low-level anyway. I'd rather catch something around level ten, not five." Soul then jumped back on her feet and walked down the dirt trail, "Let's go Hoppip! We should reach Violet City in a few hours."

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**So ends Chapter Two! Hope ya'll enjoyed. Yeah...I guess that's all I have to say...Well I do have one question. How do you pronounce Hoppip? I always say it's something like Hopit. Oh, and I gave the PokeGear a new feature. I couldn't think of another option for learning info about Pokemon, besides a PokeDex. Well, I'm gonna start on Chp. 4 and try to correct any mistakes on Chp. 1  
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	3. Chapter 3

**A/N - Ok so I already had this chapter up....but I needed to make one tiny little change and that's it. Nothing huge just a few words.  
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**Disclaimer - I don't own Pokemon. If I did then Barry would be more than Paul's fanboy....**

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**"Woo-whoo! We made it before dark!" exclaimed Soul as she walked into Violet City, Hoppip was on top of her hat. She gave him a little nudge and said, "Don't worry Hoppip! I'll make sure you get a loooong rest!"

"Hopp..." muttered Hoppip happily.

"Afterall, we can't train in Sprout Tower later tonight if you're tired."

All happiness left Hoppip after that.

They noticed the PokéCenter very quickly, it was the first building they saw actually. As Soul walked towards the center though, she noticed a certain bike on the bike rack outside. She walked towards it and began to inspect the red bike. Finally Soul took a deep breath and walked into the PokéCenter.

"Looks like you're all set! Here's your trainer card sir."

"Thank you Nurse Joy."

Soul tried not to scowl, instead she opted to yell as cheery as she could, "Hey Silver!"

Silver turned towards her, a look that clearly said he didn't like his name being yelled at from across the room. Soul put on a fake smile and she walked up to the counter. "Hiya Nurse Joy! Mind taking care of my Hoppip. He really could use a good rest."

"Of course!" replied Nurse Joy as she was handed Hoppip.

"You know my name," stated Silver once Nurse Joy walked into the back room.

"Uh-huh, Gold told me."

Silver frowned, "He's that annoying kid with a Cyndaquil?"

Soul nodded, "The one and only! I'm Soul by the way."

"I didn't ask."

Silver walked towards the waiting area and sat down on an armchair. Soul followed and sat on a couch a bit farther away.

"You just got a trainer card?" she finally asked.

"What's it to ya?"

Soul mused, "Well nothing really. It's just...I've had my trainer card since my birthday. I don't suppose you're barely ten eh?"

Silver exhaled deeply, "You know I don't really need to answer to anything you say. This is all completely useless dialogue that the author is making up as she goes just to add more to the story. I doubt our game counterparts even meet, seeing as that other guy is going to be the hero."

An awkward silence fell between the two trainers. Finally Nurse Joy's voice came from the counter, "Silver! Your Totodile is healed."

"Must be my cue to leave," muttered Silver as he got up.

Soul frowned, "Wait, what about my bike?!?" she asked as she bounced up to follow.

"That's your fault, who leaves a bike right in front of some guy stalking a lab?"

"Um.....it was that author person you talk about?"

Silver placed his PokéBall back on his belt, "Than you're both really stu-"

"KID KID! ELEKIIIIIIIIID!"

"Elekid! Stay away from that bike!!"

A bright yellow light came from outside, along with a zap zap noise and the screaming of a young boy. Soul and Silver stayed by the counter, not really sure what to make out of the situation. After a few minutes the light died off and the automatic doors whooshed open. A boy walked in, his blond hair standing up every which way. An Elekid was happily following the boy, spinning its arms like crazy. The boy noticed the stares and he smiled sheepishly.

"Um...whoever owns a red racing bike....heh..sorry," he said, rubbing his back.

The boy was pretty tall, but his bright orange eyes showed childish recklessness. He wore a white collar shirt with a single orange stripe across his chest, dark green pants, brown hiking boots, and an orange backpack.

Soul's eyes widen, "H-Hey," she stammered. "A-Aren't you Tower Tycoon's kid?"

The boy blinked in surprise, "Uh yeah. I'm Pearl."

"OhmigoshPeaaaaaaarl!" squealed Soul as she ran towards the boy and glomped him. "You're so cooool! You're dad is soooooooo cool!"

"Umm....thanks?" muttered Pearl. And he thought_ he _was a fanboy.

"Hey crazy!" yelled Silver as he walked up to the two. "Don't forget his Elekid ruined your bike."

Soul pouted and let go of Pearl, "It was an accident! _You_ were the one who stole it anyway!"

"How bad is it anyway? wondered Silver as he exited the PokéCenter.

There was a small group of people around the bike rack. They were all talking in hush voices, about who the poor soul could be and someone noticed the happy (crazy?) Elekid stepping out, everyone had other places to be. Soul's (and Silver's) beautiful red bike was completely charred. It was just a pile of black metal now. The electric Pokémon grinned and continued with whirling its arms, creating small bursts of electricity.

"AH! Elekid no! This isn't good!" yelled Pearl as he grabbed a PokéBall and returned the hyped up Elekid. "Eh..sorry about him. He's a really happy fella."

Soul had ran off a bit to avoid being shocked, "Oh...i-it's fine. Being energetic can be a good thing...I guess."

"No seriously, I'm really sorry. If it had been _my_ bike, boy, I would have fined like twenty million!"

"Sounds like a plan to me," said Silver as he kicked the bike a bit, "I could use some cash."

Pearl blinked and took a quick intake of air, "Weeeel I don't really have that much money. You see I usually fine people when I'm upset with them, in fact Diamond owes me like a whole lot. Of course, Diamond's my best friend so I always let it slide. But if I didn't, gee, I'd be filthy stinking rich! Then there's Platinum, but one time I fined her and she freaked out. Started saying about how she didn't have that kind of money and-hey where you going?"

Silver had started walking off.

"Silver don't be rude!" yelled Soul. Of course she had wanted to leave too, but Pearl seemed like a nice guy.

Pearl sprinted off, "Yeah Silver!" he said when he caught up. "I may not have twenty million, but I have enough to take you two to a restaurant or something."

"And I would say yes because-?" questioned the redhead as he came to a stop.

"Weeeel, who could pass up on free food?"

".........."

Soul smiled, "Sounds like a plan to me!" she said (then received a glare from Silver). "By the way Pearl, my name's Soul."

Pearl grinned and latched an arm around Soul and Silver. "Got it! Now, I think there was a cafe over there..." the blond then ran off in a random direction, dragging the other two around.

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Soul thought she never met someone as talkative as Pearl. From the minute Pearl dragged them off to when they were eating in a sandwich shop, the blond came up with a wide range of topics. He started with his hometown, Twinleaf Town, and his best friend Diamond. Then something he said made him change the topic; about how his mom made the best waffles. Nice and fluffy with chocolate chips, pecha berries, and syrup. The waffle talk turned into a talk about his Munchlax (now a Snorlax) and how the little Pokémon swallowed a PokéBall and that's how Pearl caught it. Next he talked about how Diamond and him went to the lake near Twinleaf and got attacked by Starly. Now his topics made more since, he started talking about his whole journey. He was talking about his battle with Byron when Silver got up.

"I'm done eating," he stated. "Now I don't have to put up with this anymore."

Pearl pouted, "And I was getting to the good part..."

"To bad Blondie, I've got stuff to do."

"Fine..." he said in a huff, then glanced at Soul. "What about you?"

Soul shrugged, "My Hoppip is back at the center, but that's okay. He's gonna need a lot of rest before we head to Sprout Tower."

Pearl had a confused look now, "So you're not traveling with that guy?"

"Oh nooooo, I barely know him. He stole my bike."

"Okay....you only have a Hoppip?"

Soul's smile weaken, "Yeah...I was suppose to get a Totodile too."

"Really? That's a Johto starter right? What happened?" he asked in rapid fire.

She thought about telling him Silver stole it, "Well...I woke up late. Silver got Totodile instead," she finally said.

Pearl took a bite of his sandwich and mumbled, "Sowy."

"It's ok," she whispered, "But it won't be easy battling Falkner."

A quick sip from his coke and he added, "You could look for an electric type! I got Elekid on the way here, there were some Mareep too."

"Which route?"

"Let's see..." Pearl said as he put a finger to his chin. "I think it was Route 32....yeah pretty sure it was! You see Daddy was going to Olivine City, something about the Battle Frontier. I got a free ride there and took my Staraptor out for a spin. We ended up in Goldenrod, so I told my dad that I would battle at the gyms. He was ok with that and told me I should try for a fresh start; just Infernape and me. I gave him my other Pokémon and he sent me my stuff and a PokéGear. Don't you think it's cool how each region has a different tools for trainers? In Sinnoh we have the Pokétch, I think Hoenn has a PokéNav. But a Pokétch doesn't have a phone application. Hey why do you think Kant-"

"Um Pearl, your point?"

"Woops. Sorry 'bout that. Well yeah pretty sure it's Route 32. I don't think you'll find any out right now though. You'd want to start bright and early tomorrow."

Soul nodded, "I guess we won't train tonight. Hoppip has to be fully recharged if we want to even think of battling an electric type."

"That's cool. Say, do ya think they still have rooms at the center?"

"I hope so, I need a room too."

Pearl payed for the food and both of them headed back to the PokéCenter; talking about random stuff like why Johto didn't have a TV station like Sinnoh or why some Pokémon had so much trouble learning a simple tackle attack.

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**End of this chapter. I wanted to add Soul going to Sprout Tower but I decided to wait until she got her second Pokemon. And I didn't want to write that in this chapter. So the next one will probably have both things. Also, yeah I changed Pearl's clothes a bit. It's a new region for him!  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N - Thanks for the reviews! Here's Chapter 4. I've been putting this one off for a while.  
**

**Disclamer - I don't own Pokemon. If I did then Splash would have a chance of hitting your Pokemon in all the games(A small chance but still...)not just Mystery Dungeon  
**

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**"Come on Hoppip, that cloud has to be bigger!" yelled Soul.

It was early morning, a dull orange light all around Route 32. Soul had told her Hoppip about the plan last night, and promised that if they caught an electric type then Hoppip wouldn't have to battle any ghost Pokémon. Hoppip agreed, not knowing that Soul planned to wake him up at 5:26 in the morning. They had a quick breakfast, an apple and a tiny can of PokéFood, and ran off through Violet City. A few people were also up at that time, many heading to Sprout Tower or the Gym. Soul had slowed down while they passed the gym and smiled, "Just you wait, I'm gonna get the Zephyr Badge before you," she whispered and jogged off. Hoppip had remained quiet, he couldn't ask her who she was talking to anyway.

Right now they were battling a wild Pidgey. Hoppip twirled his leaves faster and faster, trying to follow his trainer's orders. The purple powder was flung bit by bit towards the Pidgey though, and Hoppip had to dodge his own attack being blown back at him. Finally the cottonweed decided to ram into the little bird. The Pidgey was slightly stunned. It didn't see the cloud of poison about the size of itself flying towards it. Pidgey tried flapping its little wings, but some of the powder still reached the feathers.

Soul punched the air, "Perfect! Now keep on tackling!"

Two tackles later and Pidgey fell to the ground with a soft thud.

"Yes, yes, YES!" squealed Soul as she grabbed Hoppip and twirled around on the spot. "That was your best poison powder attack!"

Hoppip smiled. He loved seeing his trainer so proud of him. In fact, Hoppip was quite happy when that redhead took Totodile. He wanted Soul to notice him and train him to be a strong Pokémon, even if he only really knew how to splash around when they first met.

"Mar?"

Soul stopped dancing. Only a short distance away was a Mareep, sleep still showing in its eyes. Soul glanced at Hoppip who nodded determinedly. She let Hoppip float gently towards the sheep. Hoppip was slowly spinning his leaves; building up the poison above him. Mareep tilted its head, a funny looking pecha berry was flying towards it. The electric type walked closer and tried to bite Hoppip.

"Hop?!?"

Mareep widen its eyes. It wasn't a flying berry, it was a Hoppip. And that Hoppip was building up a poisonous cloud. Mareep huffed, it didn't like battling on an empty stomach.

Soul gasped when she saw Mareep beginning to crackle with electricity and its fur puffing up. The little bulb at the end of the tail was also getting brighter, all meaning Mareep was charging up for an attack. "Hoppip! Throw the poison at it and run back!"

Hoppip whimpered but followed orders. While Mareep was being affected by the poison, Hoppip flew back to his owner. However Mareep still blasted a bit of electricity, not the huge blast it wanted but it still hit Hoppip. Hoppip tumbled down to the ground and rolled right next to Soul.

"This isn't good! Hoppip get up and use synthesis!" yelled Soul while she grabbed a PokéBall. "Be ready to tackle if it comes outs!"

Soul threw the capsule and Mareep was lightly hit on the head by it before being sucked in with a red light. Hoppip glowed and healed itself, he finished just seconds before Mareep came out. Hoppip raced towards the larger creature and hit it square on the head. Mareep squeaked and fell down, dust blowing around it. Mareep got up slowly, the poison kicking in.

"One more tackle should do it!" screamed Soul, but then she noticed something was wrong with Hoppip. "Aww...Don't tell me, Static."

Hoppip was now paralyzed thanks to Mareep's ability. Right now he couldn't move an inch, he was stuck lying on the ground. Soul looked up at the sky and muttered, "It's not sunny enough for Hoppip to activate Leaf Guard..." Desperate to win this match, she began to plea at her little Pokémon, "Hoppip try something! Try to use tackle!"

Mareep was taking baby steps forward, possibly wanting to tackle, but the poison had now fully settled in. Its usual blue face was now purple and showed pain at every other step. Hoppip was also trying to move, miraculously he began to jump up and down.

"No Hoppip!! That's splash attack!" groaned Soul and face palmed.

Hoppip continued jumping and flopping around. Mareep stopped, a confused look over it. Suddenly Hoppip jumped towards Mareep! _Bam!_ He hit the wool Pokémon right on the head. Soul's eyes widen at the sight. She picked up the PokéBall on the ground and threw it again. Mareep was sucked inside. Once, twice, thrice- the PokéBall stood still. Hoppip glanced up at his trainer, the electricity still crackling around him, and smiled.

* * *

Soul took a big chunk out of her waffle and plopped it in her mouth. The clock on the center's cafeteria wall showed that it was 8:45 AM. Her Hoppip and newly caught Mareep were with Nurse Joy resting. Next to her plate was a small notebook whit a number of notes scribbled on it.

_Violet City Gym Leader - Falkner - "The Elegant Master of Flying Pokémon"_

_Type - Flying_

_Common Pokémon for Gym Battles - Hoothoot, Pidgey, Pidgeotto, Spearow _

_Others - Farfetch'd, Chatot, Murkrow, Doduo, Taillow_

_Misc. Info - Gym inherited from father. Often battles with father's Pokémon (Pidgeotto & Pidgey) Usually two on two._

"Okay...I can send Hoppip out if he uses Pidgey, Hoothoot, or Spearow. Mareep will definitely battle Pidgeotto," muttered Soul in between bites.

"Hey Soul! Look at this!"

Soul turned and saw Pearl with a shiny new badge on his hand.

"Awesome!" squealed Soul. "How was the battle?"

Pearl sat down across from her. "Just the best! Infernape had a little problem with Pidgeotto, what with him being part fighting type and all, but we scorched that bird in the end! Then Falkner sent out a Spearow, those always look mean to me, and I sent out Elekid. Well Falkner didn't seem happy about that, started talking about how he didn't like it when trainers were prejudiced or something..? I'm not really sure what he was talking about since he said that Infernape was a poor choice against his Pokémon. So yeah...Elekid was totally psyched for the battle and it was all pretty intense! And now I've got my first badge!"

Soul furrowed her brow, "First? But you said you were in Goldenrod when you decided to travel. What about the Plain and Hive badges?"

He shrugged, "Infernape is pretty strong against those two gyms. I wanted to catch some more Pokémon for those battles. Hey did you catch a Mareep?"

"Uh-huh! It's with Joy right now, Hoppip is there too."

"Awesome! You gonna train it in Sprout Tower later? We can train together."

Soul grinned, _'Training with Tower Tycoon's kid? Duh!'_

_

* * *

_

"Mareep use thundershock!"

"Same with you Elekid!"

Elekid happily blasted the Rattata in front of him. They were in the second floor of Sprout Tower, a large wooden...tower that seemed to move with each Pokémon battle. There were large Bellsprout statues in every corner, in every floor, inside and out. Elekid dashed towards the mouse with a quick attack. Mareep....chewed on Soul's bag and refused to battle.

"You can't be serious! Mareep you already ate!" yelled Soul. She had checked Mareep's stats with her PokéGear before coming. The electric type was female, level 11, and was of the lax nature. Mareep was about as lax as....well a Snorlax really. Also, like a Snorlax, the little wool Pokémon seemed to love eating. Soul fed her about three whole cans of Pokéfood back at the center.

"Mar mar!" whined Mareep as she tried to open the bag. Soul lightly slapped her and pointed to a paralyzed Rattata. Mareep sighed and tackled it.

"Good! Now let's keep going. If we reach the top I'll give you a nice dinner."

"Come on Soul! You can't keep me waiting!" wailed Pearl from the top of the next flight of stairs.

"Sorry senpai* I'm coming!"

She ran up the stairs and was surprised when Pearl was already battling a sage. He was using Elekid against a Bellsprout. Elekid was shocking the vines coming towards him. Then he whirled his arms only now they began to glow yellowish white. Multitude of stars were shot out at Bellsprout. Pearl ordered a quick attack and the Bellsprout fainted.

"Congratulations. You and Elekid showed wonderful teamwork and that is something everyone should have. I hope you never forget that, even as you battle Eldest."

Pearl bowed and ran off to fight the next sage. Soul looked at the monk. He nodded and sent out another Bellsprout, returning the fainted one.

"Mar! Maaaaar!" whined Mareep while tugging on the yellow bag.

Soul sighed, "Mareep! I already told you that when we finish training you can eat!" she scolded. The monk coughed and Soul got out Hoppip's PokéBall. "Mareep's just a little Grumpig." she muttered sheepishly before sending out Hoppip. The cottonweed seemed tired, he had battled a Hoothoot only recently.

"Bellsprout use growth!"

As the flower Pokémon began to glow and stretch, Hoppip decided to use synthesis. However Soul yelled out, "Wait Hoppip! Try that new move! Try stun spore!"

"Hop..." whimpered Hoppip but he followed orders. He twirled his leaves like when using poison powder and a light yellow powder spurted out towards Bellsprout. Like when Hoppip first used poison powder, the attack was small. In fact, Bellsprout used its vines to blow the small stun spore away! Hoppip squeaked as Bellsprout sent its vines towards him. Hoppip was wrapped up by the strong vines and couldn't move.

"Oh no! Hoppip try poison powder!"

"Bellsprout is part poison, the move won't work."

Soul frowned, "O-Okay...then try stun spore again!"

The monk frowned as Hoppip began to spin the leaves. He ordered Bellsprout to wrap the leaves up. Now Hoppip couldn't spin them for an attack. Scared and tired from the whole training session, Hoppip began to wail.

"Hoppip stop that! Just use synthesis!" yelled Soul. She was getting very irritated over the whole thing. "For crying out loud! It's a Bellsprout!!"

"This match is over," said the sage and returned his Pokémon. Hoppip falling on the ground when the vines disappeared. "Young girl you still have much to learn."

Soul pouted, "What are you talking about?" she muttered while staring at her own grass type crying. "Hoppip is the one who needs to learn stun spore."

The man shook his head, "Hoppip was tired from the start. As its trainer you need to listen to your Pokémon. They are not perfect machines; they are your friends and you must treat them as such."

"I-I do!" yelled Soul. "I care for Hoppip and Mareep! I-It's just tough love! That's all!"

"If that's what you want to think...."

Outraged Soul screamed, "I'm going to be the best! Better than anyone else! My Pokémon might get tired from training but they'll be happy when we defeat Gold and go off to battle the Elite Four! Good-bye!"

Soul returned Hoppip and Mareep before running down the stairs. She bumped into Silver who was just entering the building. She scowled at Totodile who was cackling to himself for some unknown reason. Next to Silver was a Zubat, a little jittery and hid behind its trainer when Soul glared at it.

Silver pushed her and barked, "Watch it girl!

She pushed back, "Leave me alone! I've got training to do!" and raced towards Route 32. It was dark now. Soul and Pearl had entered Sprout Tower in the afternoon. She reached a large space and called out both her Pokémon. They glanced around before turning to Soul. They both had a look clearly saying they were tired, hungry, and confused.

The brunette looked back at Sprout Tower, tall and moving just a bit. She clenched her fists and thought about what the man had told Pearl and not her. "Screw it," she finally whispered. Her voice began to get louder and louder, "What does _he_ know? All they do is wait around and bow before a silly 100 ft Bellsprout that doesn't even exist! They probably say stuff like that to every other trainer!!" She looked at her Pokémon and gave them a smile, "What are you two staring at? We didn't finish our training! Now let's look around, Silver probably caught that Zubat around here."

Soul marched off. Mareep quietly followed behind, hungry enough to follow orders if it meant a meal. However Hoppip sniffled a bit. He liked it when Soul smiled, but not a crooked smile like that one. He hopped after the two girls, knowing that tomorrow Soul would challenge the Violet City Gym.

* * *

*** = Yeah, I used a japanese word. Bite me. I want Soul to look up to Pearl. Senpai fits more than Master or Teacher**

**Well what do ya'll think? This chapter is longer than my other ones so you all better like it! Incase you don't know, Hoppip learn Stun Spore at lvl. 14. Elekid learn Swift at lvl. 16. Bellsprout learn Wrap at lvl. 11. Soul's Mareep knows Charge because it's an egg move. Soul's Hoppip isn't at lvl. 14 yet, but he's close. That's why he can't use Stun Spore perfectly. And....I think that's it. Sorry for any grammer mistakes that I might have missed. **

**_Quick Edit - As asked, I added the little bar thing to show scene change on this chp and chp 3. Sorry for any confusion._  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N - WOOO! Kotone is in the anime!!! AND she does gyms!!! Now we just need Silver/Kamon to show up. I was suppose to finish this chapter and have it up last week, but after the first round I got lazy :P  
**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Pokemon. If I did then Falkner would have a Hoothoot instead of a Pidgey in the new HGSS games. (seriously, he's a Johto gym leader NOT Kanto!)**

* * *

It had been past ten when Soul finished her training. She was walking back to the PokéCenter when she spotted Gold coming from the direction of Sprout Tower. He had a huge grin on his face when she saw him. Cyndaquil was snoozing on top of his backwards cap and Aipom was on his shoulder. Gold said he just got to Violet City today. He talked about how he was dragged to Earl's Pokémon Academy by none other than Earl (ah..em..chubby man who liked to dance) and couldn't get to Sprout Tower until a few hours ago. His mood changed a bit though when he mentioned he saw Silver.

_"Silver was challenging the Eldest," he said. "I just got to the top floor and he was telling Totodile to use ice fang. It worked a little, but I think Totodile was still learning that attack. The ice melted in a bit. Well, Silver won in the end. The Eldest congratulated him but told him Pokémon were our friends and not tools. When Silver turned to leave he saw me. He told me that the Eldest was just an old man who didn't know anything about being strong."_

Soul had felt like someone hit her in stomach hard. She convinced herself that it was because Silver was teaching Totodile ice fang; just like how she told him.

Now it was bright and early. Soul was going to challenge Falkner while Gold would battle him tomorrow. Gold insisted that he would come and support Soul, even though Soul said she was planning to leave after getting her badge.

"Hey Soul, you know lots about the gym leaders right? Anything I should be on the lookout?" asked Gold as they walked around Violet City.

Soul placed a finger to her lips, "Well...he uses Pidgey and Pidgeotto a lot; those were his dad's Pokémon by the way. Sometimes he'll use Spearow or Hoothoot. Oh! Hoothoot can learn a few psychic moves like hypnosis, so always be careful of that. He's got others..but really those are the ones he uses often."

"Cool! Well, looks like we're here!"

The two trainers grinned like the Cheshire Meowth. They each opened a door and stepped inside. The place was filled with bird keepers and their Pokémon. Small flocks of Pidgey, Hoothoot, Natu, Murkrow, and maybe all the other flying types were perched on some of the many wooden beams. An elevator could be seen not far off, hidden by crates of bird cages. A young man noticed the duo looking around with huge eyes and walked over to them.

"Here to challenge Falkner?" he asked and smiled when Gold and Soul got startled.

"Uh...yeah! I wanna challenge him first! My buddy here wants to battle him tomorrow!" exclaimed Soul.

"You're in luck! Falkner won't be teaching a class until later today. He's got time," the man motioned at the two to follow him. They all hopped into the elevator. Soul was balancing on her heels as they went higher and higher up. Finally there was a ting signaling they reached their destination- the roof. The doors slid open and everyone stepped out. Right in front of them was the battle field. A few bleachers were on one side and Gold waltzed over there.

_"You brought another challenger Robin?!"_

Soul blinked. She looked she looked to her left, her right, and back at the elevator. Gold was also confused. Robin pointed above them and their eyes followed. A hang glider was flying high up them. Soul "Oooohed" as Falkner swooped down. "Really Robin," he said. "A warning would be nice."

"Heh, sorry Falkner," replied Robin sheepishly. "But you normally don't go out at this time."

"Right, it's daytime on Monday," he muttered to himself. He glanced at Soul, whose eyes were as wide as a Jigglypuff's, and chuckled, "So this your first gym battle?"

"Uh-Huh!" nodded Soul as she snapped out of it and clapped her hands together. "But I've done a ton of research! Flying type, 2 on 2, no items, only I can switch."

Falkner nodded, "Good, just head to the blue corner and we'll get started."

Gold waved at Soul as she got closer and yelled out, "Good Luck!"

The brunette gave a small smile before facing the field.

"In this corner we have--Sorry, never caught your name!"

"Soul!" she exclaimed to Robin, the referee. Then she added, "From NewBark Town!"

"Okay! And in the other we have Violet City's gym leader- Falkner!"

_'What's the point of this? Gold's the only one watching.'_

"This match will be 2 on 2! Only the challenger is allowed to switch! The match will be over once both Pokémon on one side are unable to battle! And begin!"

Soul pulled out both her PokéBalls and waited a bit for Falkner to release his first bird. The capsule burst open and a Hoothoot was now flying slightly above the field. Soul smiled and returned Mareep to her bag, "Ok Hoppip! You're up first!" she yelled as she sent her own flying type out.

"You are aware Hoppip is part grass?" asked Falkner. When Soul nodded he sighed a bit, "Fine have it your way. Hoothoot use hypnosis!"

Hoothoot's red eyes began to give off an eerie glow. Then it began to tilt its body from side to side. "Hoppip! Fly all over the place to dodge!" yelled Soul. Hoppip floated off and began to zig-zag across the field as Hoothoot released the power from its eyes in the form of red circles. "Keep using hypnosis!" The hypnosis was starting to go everywhere; it went towards the elevator, disappeared into the sky, and almost hit Gold. ("Gah!")

"Hoppip use poison powder, but you gotta keep dodging!"

"Hop!" squeaked Hoppip. Soul had trained him a lot last night on dodging while using an attack. Hoppip dodged another wave of hypnosis before spinning his leaves. Then he began to spin his whole body like a Hitmontop. Now Hoppip was spinning around the field; a trail of poison powder following him and falling towards Hoothoot.

"Hoo! Hoo!" yelled Hoothoot as the purple powder landed on it. The hypnosis was stopped and Hoppip could take a quick rest.

"Fly towards Hoppip and use peck!"

Hoothoot's beak began to glow white all around. The owl flew towards Hoppip with incredible speed despite being poisoned. Hoppip cried out and tried to fly away. Hoothoot however made a quick turn and jabbed Hoppip right on his pink back. Soul bit her lower lip and yelled, "Hoppip! Use tackle!"

She knew it wouldn't work. Hoothoot continued on with rapid fire peck attacks. Hoppip was being hit left and right. It wouldn't take long for Hoppip to faint. "Hoppip! Run away o-or fly! Whatever! Just stop getting hit!"

Falkner smiled, "Hoppip won't be getting away that easy! Hoothoot use hypnosis!"

"Hoo!" again its eyes glowed. This time Hoppip was tired and couldn't move fast enough. The red circles hit him and Hoppip's eyes closed as he fell onto the battlefield with a thud.

"Hoppip! Get up! Get up right now!" screeched Soul. "Gah! Shouldn't Leaf Guard kick in?!?"

"Hoo....hoo" moaned Hoothoot. The poison had been slowly taking affect on the owl Pokémon. Hoothoot's wings, talons, and tummy areas were all now a sickly purple color. It stopped using peck and was barely in the air.

Soul looked up at the sky. There were a few clouds blocking the sun. "Great! Just great! Hoppip you better wake up from that nap!" she screamed, her voice getting higher and angrier. "We're going to looooooose!"

Somehow Hoppip heard his owner and his eyes snapped open. The first thing Hoppip saw was Hoothoot, tired but still determined to win.

"Hoothoot quick finish it with peck!"

"Hop! Hoppip!" squealed Hoppip as he began to hop around the field. Soul watched as Hoothoot missed Hoppip twice before finally falling down.

"Hoothoot is unable to battle!" yelled Robin. "Hoppip wins!"

Gold jumped out of his seat, "Woo-hoo!" he exclaimed while pumping his arms into the air.

Soul watched as Hoppip jumped happily towards her. He landed right next to her shoes and nudged her leg. She crouched down to his level and stroked one of the leaves, "That was good, but we got lucky," she whispered. "If you hadn't woken up we would have lost."

Hoppip gave his owner a confused look. Soul waved her arms frantically, "S-Sorry that came out wrong! But you get what I'm saying?"

"Hop?"

Soul grabbed Hoppip's PokéBall and sighed, "Okay you get some rest." She placed the capsule back in her bag and pulled out Mareep's ball.

Falkner returned his Hoothoot and said, "Switching out huh? Good 'cause my next Pokémon is much stronger! Let's go Pidgeotto!"

"Pidgeotto!" it screeched as the bird flapped its wings and took to the skies.

"Let's go Mareep!"

"So this time it's an electric type," the gym leader mused. "No matter, Pidgeotto's dealt with a ton of electric types before! Now use gust!"

"Stand your ground Mareep! Use charge while you're at it!"

Mareep grunted as the fierce winds starting sliding her bit by bit. She lowered her head and electricity began to crackle around Mareep's coat. Once Mareep had slide down so she was maybe four feet away from Soul, the trainer yelled, "Quick use thundershock!" The wool Pokémon let loose a blast of electricity. Pidgeotto halted its attack and flew off. "Keep it up Mareep!" The bird continued zig-zaging around the thundershocks.

"Use sand attack!"

Pidgeotto swooped close to the ground and flew sand towards Mareep; then quickly flew to the electric type's other side and repeated the action. Mareep tumbled down and shut her eyes. Falkner ordered another gust attack and Mareep was belly sliding around the field a little.

"Come on Mareep! Use growl!"

Mareep huffed. She was grumpy at this girl who had refused to let her eat in piece. Then the girl got mad after trying to nibble that puffy white and red thing on her head. Mareep grumbled and let out a scream, "MAAAAAR!"

Pidgeotto froze in mid-air and hold its head with its wings. Everyone else on the roof quickly followed ("Gah! I'm going to be deaf!"). With her ears covered, Soul ordered, "Now thundershock!"

"PIDGEOOO!" wailed the bird as it was struck with the electric current. However only a quick flap of its wings later and Pidgeotto straighten itself up; albeit a bit tired.

"Pidgeotto use sand attack!"

Again the bird swooped in and flapped sand towards Mareep, causing the little wool Pokémon to cough and crouch down. Once Mareep was surrounded by a large dust cloud Falkner ordered, "Now use roost!"

Pidgeotto flew a bit far away from Mareep and landed on the battlefield. One quick flap later and Pidgeotto's feathers began to glow a shiny silver. Soul bit her tongue, "Mareep if you can't see then use charge!"

Falkner frowned when he saw the little ball on the tip of Mareep's tail glow yellow through the dust. When Pidgeotto finished healing Falkner ordered, "Use quick attack on Mareep's feet!"

"Mareep use thundershock!"

The bird Pokémon was fast. It dodged Mareep's attacks with such great speed that one minute Pidgeotto was halfway across the field and the next zooming right under Mareep. Mareep squeaked as she fell down. "Another gust! Send Mareep flying!"

"Mar! Mar! Mar!" screamed Mareep as she rolled around the field. Once the winds stopped Mareep tried to get up, but her legs hurt and she plopped on her belly.

"This isn't going according to plan," muttered Soul as she got a tight grip on her bag.

Mareep sneezed and looked up. Pidgeotto was circling right above her. She huffed and shut her eyes in concentration. Mareep's fur crackled with electricity and soon a weak current blasted towards Pidgeotto. The bird squawked and fell to the floor. Soul squealed, "Perfect! Mareep learned thunder wave! Now use thundershock!"

Even with the paralysis Pidgeotto was able to fly, only it was slower than before. Pidgeotto dodged a few bolts before one finally got it. Now Pidgeotto was back on the ground and taking deep breaths. "Pidgeotto use roost!" commanded Falkner. Soul stomped her foot, "Almost forgot! Mareep you use thundershock!"

That could have gone on for a bit- Mareep hitting the bird and Pidgeotto healing itself- but Pidgeotto was fully paralyzed and unable to get up. Mareep only needed to shock Pidgeotto once and the bird finally fainted.

"Pidgeotto is unable to battle! Mareep wins! The match goes to the challenger Soul of NewBark Town!"

Soul let out a deep breath and turned to Mareep. The electric type gave her owner an angry look, "Chill Mareep," Soul said knowingly. "You'll get all the food you can eat. Promise." Mareep smiled at the promise and happily returned to her PokéBall.

Falkner returned Pidgeotto to its own PokéBall, "You were great Pidgeotto."

Gold cheered, "Alright Soul! You rock and you rule!" He flashed Soul a thumbs up as she walked towards him.

Robin and Falkner walked over to the two trainers. Robin was holding an opened box. In it was the Zephyr Badge. "Congrats," said Falkner as he picked up the badge. "Here's proof of you defeating me, it's all yours."

Soul grinned from ear to ear as the badge was placed in her palm, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she squealed.

* * *

**And we end here. Reason is I want to post this chapter now :p I'm not too happy with Soul's first gym battle but...I dunno. I guess I just really want her to move on to the next gym. I plan on having only chapter six with her on the road, chapter seven should be her in Azelea Town (that how you spell it?). That might seem a little fast but I'm worried if I spend my time writting two or three chapters with her in a cave or route## then I'll get bored of this story. However I plan on having around three chapters with Soul in town and I think two with her in Ilex Forest. I'll tell you now that the second Ilex Chapter will be Pokemon only! Well that should be it, and sorry if this author's note is long.**

**_Wait! Forgot something! I have a game reference and anime reference in this chapter! The anime one is easy (Gold-Jimmy thing) while the game one might be odd. When Falkner says something about leaving the gym on Mondays it's talking about the HGSS games where the gym leaders leave and you go find them, get their # and have a rematch. Falkner isn't at the gym daytime on Mondays. (I think) Thought you might like to know._  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N - Finally! I got sooo bored writing this chapter! I tried to add more on how Soul, Hoppip, and Mareep are like. I don't think I did a super job. I wanted to write Soul going through Union Cave in this chapter but I'm desperate to add a chapter. So that means chp. 7 will have Union Cave and meeting Bugsy.  
**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Pokemon. If I did then I would have a dark green or black PokeGear.**

* * *

"How many times do I have to say it Mareep?!? You can't have any more food!!"

Mareep pouted and started nibbling on Soul's bag. Soul groaned, "Come on Mareep! We've been out for two days and I don't think we're even near Union Cave! You are slowing us down with all these snack times! Now stop eating my bag!" She pulled on the bag and Mareep finally let go. She swung her bag over her shoulder and said, "Okay Hoppip it's your turn."

"Hop!" nodded the grass type. Soul had been switching between Mareep and him since early morning. They hadn't had much luck though- mostly Rattata and a few Pidgey. It was very easy, Soul didn't even think that what she was doing could be called training. The trio continued walking along Route 32. Everything seemed nice and fresh, a great time to get some distance in this trip. Hoppip smiled; he liked walking (well floating for him) with Soul in such a peaceful place.

"Sooooo...we just keep walking?" muttered Soul. "That's boring...." She lifted her arms lazily and looked up; a flock of Pidgey were flying off to Sprout Tower. "Ya'll think it's good to see the top of Sprout Tower just by tilting my head all the way back?"

"Ekanssssss."

Soul snapped her head back. She smiled at the purple snake, "Awesome! An Ekans would make a cool addition to the team!" The brunette pulled out a PokéBall and motioned at Hoppip to attack. Hoppip whimpered, it was a scary and _poisonous _snake after all; still the grass-flying type dashed straight towards Ekans. He hit the snake square in the head and Ekans fainted just like that. "Hop! Hop!" cheered Hoppip. Puzzled, Soul flipped out her PokéGear.

**Ekans**

**Male**

**Lvl. 4**

"Seriously?!?" she yelled to herself. "No wonder this has been so easy! We're over-leveled!" Soul snapped the device shut and nudged the fainted Ekans with her foot. "We need to find some stronger Pokémon."

* * *

"How long is Route 32 anyway?" asked Soul late in the afternoon. They had found a little clearing and decided to set up camp. Soul pulled out two cans of PokéFood and some napkins. "Okay here's some dinner. Oh, Mareep don't try eating the napkin." She placed the napkins on the ground and plopped some food into two piles. "Eat this now then when we get a bit of wood I'll give you guys the rest."

"Maaaar," whined Mareep after eating all her food in two mouthfuls. Soul ignored it and unwrapped her sleeping bag. "Mareep if you want you can go ahead and find some branches or something. Someone needs to stay here and guard the spot anyway." Mareep nodded and walked off; she'd do anything for the rest of her food.

Soul placed her badge in the little red case she had and smiled to her Hoppip, "I have my first badge!" she squealed, then she pumped her arm into the air, "Only seven more and I would have showed everyone! I'll get all of my badges before Gold too! Who cares that he met Professor Oak? Who cares that he got a PokéDex? Who cares that Red, coolest trainer in Kanto, also got a PokéDex at the start of his journey?" The young trainer's voice seemed to be getting louder and maybe angrier with each sentence, "That doesn't mean anything!"

"Hop.." sighed Hoppip. He didn't completely understand how his owner's logic worked. Soul let her head fall on the sleeping bag with a sigh, "I wanna be the very best...like no one ever wasss..."

Mareep came back with a number of branches in her mouth. She spat them out and motioned to Soul, _"Wa di I mess?"_ she asked to Hoppip.

_"Um...well she's upset."_

_"Wy? We wan te meta ting."_

Hoppip was confused, _"Meta ting? ... Oh! Metal thing! You mean the badge?"_

_"Ya, te mata ting!"_

_"She's happy about that....but I think she's upset about the boy who watched our battle; his name's Gold by the way."_

Mareep plopped on the soft ground and yawned, _"I lik tat boi... goud eater."_

"Oh...Mareep you're back," came the dull voice of Soul. She poked at the clump of branches and twigs, "I think this is a good start, I'll get some more though. You two can stay here and eat." While Mareep cheered, Hoppip didn't seem too happy. Soul ignored the look and dumped the rest of the can and another one for Mareep onto the two "bowls." She pulled out a repel and walked off.

She walked towards the more dense woods and sprayed the repel all over. The few Pokémon about were mostly bugs and weak-leveled ones that quickly ran off. Soul quietly began to work in gathering wood._ 'I bet Pearl-senpai is well past here,'_ thought Soul._ 'Maybe already in Union Cave. Tomorrow we'll start traveling super early, like around five in the morning or something.'_

_

* * *

_"Yes! We're almost there!_" _squealed Soul as she ran across a bridge. She quickly opened her PokéGear, "And it's only two forty five! Come on we can't slow down!" Mareep and Hoppip both groaned from exhaustion of having to walk _and_ battle since early morning. A few Wooper dove into the water as Soul passed. The New Bark Town trainer continued on though, earning a few complaints from some fishermen ("Hey kid! You're scaring the Pokémon away!") Soon the wood under Soul's feet turned to soft grass, dirt and rocks, and finally clean floor tiles as she entered the center.

"Welcome! You guys must be training hard," said Nurse Joy as Soul returned Mareep and Hoppip to their PokéBalls. "Would you like a room?"

Soul shook her head, "Nah, I wanna travel through Union Cave as soon as we can." she said and handed Nurse Joy the two capsules. "Heal them up please, I want them pumped up for tonight!" Then Soul walked towards the waiting area and plopped down on a chair. There weren't many people around. An old man was reading a newspaper and two kids were playing some video game. She sighed and flipped open her PokéGear. "I guess I should call Ma or something..." she mused as she pressed the little picture of a phone. There were only three numbers on her list- Ma, Professor Elm, and Gold. "Darn, I never asked Pearl for his number!" She pressed the CALL button next to the word Ma and waited to see her mom's face on the screen.

_Beep. Beep Beeeep._ The screen turned to a light green and a little PokéBall popped up, "Sorry I'm not here right now!" came the voice of Soul's mom. "Leave a message and I'll get to you ASAP. Unless you're a telemarketer, then I'll just delete your message!" The PokéBall opened and a Porygon was now on the screen along with the words LEAVE A MESSAGE.

Soul sighed and pressed the Porygon, "Hey Ma," she said to the screen. "I'm heading to Union Cave, just waiting for my Hoppip and Mareep to rest up. Um....sorry for not calling sooner. On the bright side, I've been out for about a week and I already have the Zephyr Badge. So....um..I met Tower Tycoon's 's challenging the gyms too. Well I guess that's it. Um...you don't have to call. I'll call after I reach Azalea Town. So yeah..bye."

She pressed the Porygon to finish her message and scrolled down to Gold's number. "Should I?" she thought.

"Chansey! Chan!"

Soul looked up. A Chansey was waving at her to come to the counter. She walked over and asked, "Something up?"

Nurse Joy came from the back, "I'm sorry but I think it would be best for you to spend the night here."

"Why? Something wrong in Union Cave?"

"No, that's not it. It's your Hoppip," explained Nurse Joy. "He's very tired and it would be good for him to spend some more time resting. "

Soul gave a weak shrug, "No problem, if he's just tired I'll let him sleep in his PokéBall during the trip. Mareep should be able to handle whatever comes our way."

A small frown appeared on Nurse Joy's face. She nodded slowly, "Well I guess I'm not the trainer. I'll go get your Pokémon."

"Okay," muttered Soul as Nurse Joy left. Chansey seemed to be pouting but Soul just said, "What? I just won't use Hoppip as often. No biggie."

* * *

**End of chp. 6! Didn't like this one. I'll do better I promise!**


End file.
